The world is constantly asking for more innovation, more creativity. You have it, you’ve found it, and you want to provide it – and you certainly can. This is where the genuine leader and the entrepreneur in you get together.

Your Leadership is Challenged

If there ever is a time when your leadership – especially where it applies to yourself – can really be put to the test, this is it. At first it is fast-paced, it is exciting, you are energized, and it is amazing. Then, all of the sudden, things come to a grinding, screeching halt. What is it? You cannot move forward until you’ve worked through things that can and/or will be holding you back. This is when things come crawling out of the woodwork – things that you may not have known even still lurked there. Things that you may have forgotten about – or at least had hoped to.

You have to get to the source. You may already know some of the things that need your attention, some you may not. Self-awareness, my friend – you have to look inside and get aware, get fully aware. You can’t tackle it until you know what it is.

You have to face these things straight on. It takes courage, and lots of it. It takes perseverance. It may not seem like it in the heat of the battle, but you will manage to get through it. You have a vision, you have the passion – keep these with you throughout.

Your Leadership Shines

You’ve chunked up the problems and worked through them bit by bit. You’ve made tough decisions and you’ve learned more than you ever thought you would. You’ve gained skills and knowledge that you have discovered are necessary for your journey. Your endurance was put to the test, but your integrity is still intact.

Congratulations – you are well on your way to success. You are a stronger, faster, more intelligent leader than when you first set out, and you did this through your own leadership. No matter how you slice it, no matter what happens from here on out, you’ve already won a major accomplishment. At this point, your leadership truly shines.

Do you carry your leadership with you wherever you go?

Being a leader is what you do, it is part of what makes you who you are, it is what you are. This means that leadership is full-time – it is this way by default. In the office, it’s probably a given, probably almost automatic – you put on your leadership hat, but this is only part-time. Your integrity, your character – these hang with you all of the time, and we need to keep them respectable no matter where we are.

It Begins with You

Leadership begins with ourselves. We need to constantly tune into our own self-awareness. We can always learn and improve. We can always look within ourselves to find the things we need to work on. We can ask ourselves questions. We can journal to tap our subconscious.

When you are alone, do you treat yourself fairly, as you would others? One thing I often neglect is that everyone needs a break, a little time to recharge, and maybe even do absolutely nothing but to take the time to sit and think – this includes ourselves! You are an important member of the team, too.

It Includes Your Loved Ones

Work, home, play – we need them all, and we need to be inclusive and mindful of the ones we love. The people that live with us, the people that we play with – they usually aren’t part of your work day, so balance is essential. We always need to give them the respect, love, and attention that they deserve.

Everyone Needs Some of That

Did you give a smile at each person that passed you by in the hall? Did you say hello or give a friendly wave? Maybe you just stopped to give someone a compliment. If you’re in the habit of doing these kinds of things, you’re doing great, you’re spreading the joy, and remember – happiness loves company. People..they love being around the genuine leader that is you.

Have you ever taken a really deep look inside yourself…what did you see? Did you like what you saw?

I know that a lot of people – myself included – need to do this more often. Lately, I have been trying to consciously develop and improve my awareness – especially my self-awareness. I decided to start by taking a deep look within.

In order to make room for growth and positive change, I need to be sure that I do not ignore things in my past, but rather look to see if things from the past might be showing up in the present, and what kind of impact they are having. Are they hindering me from moving forward in some areas? Are they having an impact on my current behaviors?

Taking a look at the present, I need to see if what I am doing now is working towards where I want to be. Are my actions and thoughts furthering my development? Are they balanced? What do I have now that needs improvement? Extremely important to me – do my actions and what I present to the world align with my core values?

Now, I need to take a look at me from a different perspective; be someone else for a bit. What do others see? I think that this is important because it reflects what I think that others perceive. I can use this as a metric when I ask someone else what they see – was their answer what I thought it would be?

I can learn a ton from examining myself in detail. Afterward, if I look for reflections of myself in others, I can see if my core values are properly embedded in the messages that I am communicating, and how effectively I am communicating. I will also be subconsciously more aware – this will affect my actions and decisions in a more positive and balanced way. I can do this because I am now equipped with some inner knowledge.